Do Black people need sunscreen? We asked the founder of Unsun Cosmetics

Katonya Breaux, Frank Ocean’s mom, founded the first Black sunscreen brand to increase Black people’s awareness of the sun’s risk.

Black may not crack (seemingly for some), but it sure can develop a fatal case of skin cancer. 

More and more sunscreen brands with formulas that don’t leave a residue have cropped up since there’s an increased awareness around the necessity for Black people to wear sunscreen. 

From Rihanna’s Fenty Beauty dropping moisturizer with SPF to influencers regularly hawking sun-protecting products, much has changed since Katonya Breaux founded the first Black mineral sunscreen brand in 2016:  Unsun Cosmetics, specially designed for darker skin tones. 

Breaux has an urgent message as we transition closer to summer and experience May, which is Skin Cancer Awareness Month. 

“Anybody with skin needs SPF,” she told theGrio during a recent interview.

Despite the ongoing belief that darker skin tones are immune to the dangers of the sun, Breaux said, all skin tones need protection of some kind. She’s urgently pushing this message because while Black people do not develop skin cancer at the same rate as white people, Black people have a higher mortality rate 

According to a recent National Library of Medicine study, Black patients are roughly three times more likely than white patients to die within five years of a melanoma diagnosis. 

Regurgitating “this myth” of sun danger immunity, Breaux said, makes Black people “believe that our melanin has superpowers. The whole Black don’t crack era.” 

“But it does crack,” she continued. “It does get hyperpigmentation. It does get these crazy-looking moles, as so many of our older aunts and uncles and grandparents have, and it does get skin cancer.”  

Breaux, who is the mother of Grammy-winning entertainer Frank Ocean, added that this belief that darker skin tones are immune to skin cancer has also led to ignorance about sun damage to the skin and a mindset that skin cancer is not a Black issue “when in fact, it is our issue,” she said.

Breaux personally understands where the cultural mindset stems from. She recalled growing up as a Girl Scout and learning wilderness preparedness but not knowing anything about the sun’s risk to her skin. She’d watch as her fellow white troop members would slather on sunscreen and remembered never being given any to put on. The socialization ran deep. 

“It was never something in our household,” she added, “and then we grow up.”

When Breaux reached her 40s, she began developing black moles around her mouth. For most of her life, Breaux had chalked the moles up to genetics because older members of her family all had them. Finally, a dermatologist informed her they weren’t just a genetic skin defect they were, in fact, sun damage. It was time for her to invest in some sunscreen. 

Breaux had difficulty finding suitable options during her first foray into sunscreen shopping. Frustrated by a lack of products that weren’t irritating to her eyes, didn’t leave a white residue or cast around the face, and weren’t smelly, Breaux resorted to designing her own. 

At first, she started mixing a formula herself with minerals at home, but when that became a headache, she eventually reached out to someone with a lab who could create a product for her. She shared her unique custom blend with her family and was shocked by how well it worked even with her family’s range of skin tones. That’s when she realized there was a market for the solution she created for herself. 

“It was just a pivotal time in my life,” said Breaux, who at the time had just spent 20 years in New Orleans running a construction company and was feeling burned out, which prompted a move back to Los Angeles and a personal regroup.  

“I knew that I didn’t want to do construction anymore. I just wasn’t sure what I wanted to do. When I got this sunscreen, and I noticed how well it worked in my family,” Breaux said, “I just sat with it for a little while and I said, ‘Well, you know what, maybe I need to build a brand around this.'”

Breaux decided then, too, that a considerable part of her brand’s mission would be to educate people of color about the importance of protection from the sun. 

“Like my family, we didn’t know that these moles were a result of sun damage. We thought they were genetic because literally all of the older people in our family have a face full of moles. So now armed with this new information, we can make better decisions,” she said.

According to Lisa Shen, Boston Medical Center’s associate director of pediatric dermatology, sun exposure significantly contributes to skin pigmentation concerns. 

“Patients with darker skin are more likely to experience melasma and postinflammatory hyperpigmentation — those dark marks left behind by acne — and exposure to UV rays can actually make them worse,” Shen said in a recent article on Boston University’s BU Today site. “The best way to prevent that from happening is by protecting the skin from visible light and UV radiation.” 

Breaux finds it encouraging how much awareness has grown in the seven years since she had to create her own product. 

“We’re starting to understand, even if our main issue is not skin cancer,” she said. “Even if [the myth] is so deeply rooted that we don’t think that we’re going to get skin cancer, when you start talking about hyperpigmentation and black moles, we feel like, ‘Oh, OK, you know, we’ve always struggled with those issues.’ So if for that reason alone, many people are saying, ‘OK, let me put on some sunscreen.’ So that’s good. We’ll take it.” 

For those new to the sunscreen game, Breaux recommends a mineral-based sunscreen with an SPF of 30 or 50. She also said skin tone does not significantly affect natural immunity to the sun. 

“This level of melanin gives me a natural built-in SPF of about 11, which will protect me for about 15 minutes,” said Breaux, who is medium dark brown. 

She said when applying sunscreen, prioritize the face and any other areas that will be exposed. There are slews of tinted mineral options and face moisturizers on the market now with an SPF of 30 that you can use along with makeup. Breaux hopes attitudes continue to change.

“I think that we have to stop believing in the myths. We have to stop allowing other people to be responsible for our well-being,” she said. “So we have to do the research. We have to read the ingredients. We have to see what’s best for us. We really need to understand that no one’s going to care for us more than we care for ourselves.” 

And above all else, Breaux stressed, “Protect your skin, all skin needs some protection. The sun literally does not discriminate. It’s not up there saying, ‘You are good.’ Everyone with skin needs some protection.”  

Kay Wicker is a lifestyle writer for theGrio covering health, wellness, travel, beauty, fashion, and the myriad ways Black people live and enjoy their lives. She has previously created content for magazines, newspapers, and digital brands. 

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